TNI Bureau:  Mumbai-based pharma company Cipla on Tuesday received the approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to import Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for restricted emergency use in India.

Cipla on Monday sought the DCGI’s nod for importing the Moderna’s vaccine and submitted an application.

Cipla has mentioned to waive bridging trials for foreign vaccinations if they are authorised for emergency use in countries like the United States and the safety assessment data of the first 100 recipients is submitted before mass rollout in its appeal to the drug authority.

The US Government has also committed to provide a specific number of doses of Moderna’s vaccine to India via COVAX, according to the company.

About 120 million Americans have received a Pfizer or Moderna shot so far with no major safety issue identified.

Moderna’s method to protect against Covid-19 relies on messenger RNA (mRNA) to program cells to generate immunity to the coronavirus.  Moderna is claimed to be 90% effective against Covid-19.

Moderna’s vaccine will be the fourth COVID-19 jab to be available in India after Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik.